


the car was on blocks (but I was already where I want)

by DeadshotDiesel



Series: the dashboard melted (but we still have the radio) [1]
Category: Dishonored (Video Game), Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Adopting someone else's kid, Angst, Corvo!Raleigh, Emily Kaldwin!Chuck Hansen, Empress Jessamine!Hercules Hansen, Gen, Herc is dead, Kidnapping, M/M, Mako Mori - Briefly Mentioned, Multi, Or Is he?, Raleigh Becket - Chuck's Other Father, get ready for tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-15 23:50:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7243807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadshotDiesel/pseuds/DeadshotDiesel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh has finally retrieved Charlie from the Golden Cat and they're back home, for now, at the Hounds Pit Pub. But they both have broken hearts and a restless night over the man they loved and the life they've lost. Little Charlie has a gift for his other dad, the Lord Protector, Raleigh Becket.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the car was on blocks (but I was already where I want)

**Author's Note:**

> So someone, somewhere had a prompt about a Dishonored/Pacific Rim crossover (and if it's you or someone you know, let me know). That was years ago and I just now remembered it. This is also a snippet from a much larger story I'm writing that has some big changes plot-wise from the Dishonored game play (besides the fact that it's the Pacific Rim cast). Let me know if there are any typos or things that need to be corrected. Leave kudos please so I know if I should continue or not. Thanks!
> 
> Title from 'Dashboard - Modest Mouse'.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Also, nothing has been beta read, so all mistakes are mine.

                Raleigh is trying to settle into his creaking bed, his left arm smarting in the dreary, damp room. The scars don’t hold him back nearly as much as he thought they would in Dunwall’s near constant rainy conditions, but to say they aren’t any hindrance is a lie. Mako has made him quite a few salves and potions to relieve the ache when he’s working, but he rather not waste them in his downtime. Especially now that he’s gotten Charlie, _little Chuck so full of laughter_ , back from Newt’s awful brothers.  The infiltration of the Golden Cat felt almost too easy, but with the help of the Russians’ thugs down in the slums, the twins were subdued. Raleigh doesn’t much care what they did with them, so long as they keep the twins from coming near Charlie again.

                He grinds his teeth, a new habit from stress, and clings to his blade against his chest.

                It’s been over half a year now and even longer before that since he could truly enjoy the antics of the young boy, the Emperor playfully ribbing them on from the comfort of a bench nearby. Afternoons filled with games of tag or hide-and-go-seek his favorite in the gardens of the manor. Even more so when the Emperor would shrug off his jacket to the dismay of his Lord Regent and join in on the fun. Now that he’s got Charlie back, he’s dismayed that the boy’s lively colours have faded. The smiles, the laughter, have been taken away from him with the death of his father and his imprisonment in a brothel. It grates on Raleigh’s fragile nerves. All the betrayal that has befallen them, _and for what_? An empire racked with disease?

                He swears on his life to keep the promise he whispered under the stars one warm summer’s night in his Emperor’s ear. He will defend and protect Charlie no matter the outcome, even if they must abandon Dunwall for a new place to build for themselves. He failed that promise once and by the power vested in him from the Outsider, he will never again. He may never be able to bring a smile like those under the magnolia trees in his father’s arms, but he can bring back some light into the darkness swirling around him now.

                His Mark flaring to life with every clench of his hand, he twists to face the wall in his cot of a so called bed. So caught up in thought and anger, he doesn’t notice the pattering of feet until they’re outside his door. His eyes catch on the handle of the rickety door, calling forth the power he’ll need to Blink across the room. The door cracks open, but where a face should be is empty air and much closer to the floor, two blue eyes stare at him, rimmed red from tears. “Raleigh, are you awake?” The boy murmurs.

                Raleigh sits up, carefully concealing the knife from view, and summons the boy in the room with a wave. “Of course, kiddo, but why are you up?”

                The boy closes the door behind him as he makes a mad dash up onto Raleigh’s lap. It pains Raleigh’s heart to realize how much bigger Charlie grew during his absence. The boy sniffles as he wipes his eyes and reaches for Raleigh’s shirt to clutch. From years of practices, Raleigh scoops him into his arms tightly as if to cradle him from the darkness in the room as well as in their lives. They sit in silence for many minutes before Charlie begins to push at Raleigh’s chest, signaling to put space between them, but not to let go.

                With tears in his voice, Charlie starts quietly, “I miss him. I miss my dad. A lot.”

                And if that doesn’t gut Raleigh worse than the whales caught for their oil, nothing ever will. ‘Cause he knows what that pain feels like. The wound that bleeds and bleeds, but has no fix from a fight not won and a blade too quick. It cuts him to his soul for the man now gone all because he wasn’t fast enough, strong enough, clever enough to kill the Lord Regent before this could happen. It eats at him like the swarms of rats every time he goes into Dunwall and sees the decay that the empire has fallen into without a just, loyal Emperor to lead it. The boy’s father, _and the man he loved_ , murder in his own home by his own people. Raleigh can only hold his breath and close his eyes to pray for the calm he can give this one piece he still has of the Emperor. “I miss him, too.”

                “I drew you something, while I was locked in that room.” Charlie, _Herc’s Chuck_ , unfolds a little manila paper and holds it out to Raleigh. “It’s us. You and dad and me.” His eyes searching for praise and reassurance that, although there will never be the three of them again, there can still be just the two of them in this new place with new faces.

                Raleigh almost sobs at the three stick figures holding hands with an attribute of each of them; the Emperor in his black jacket trimmed in gold, little Charlie in white play clothes, and Raleigh baring the crest of Lord Protector on his navy coat. His heart aches with what was lost and, though the paintings of the three of them are locked up in the main manor where the Lord Regent now reigns, he has this small image to keep close. He draws Charlie in for another crushing hug, and mumbles out, “Thank you, Charlie. Thank you so much.”

                He pulls back to pin it to the wall besides his bed so that it will look out over him every night. The crude lines only made by a child’s wistfulness, hopefully bringing with its gaze dreams of happier times. Charlie is starting to fade in his arms after a few minutes, them both staring at the drawing. “Can I stay here, Raleigh? I want to stay with you.”

                “Of course, Charlie. Get under the covers. It’s going to get cold.”

                Bundling them both under the ragged covers and keeping Charlie tucked against the wall, the boy falls quickly to sleep. Raleigh guesses he should be happy he can even sleep with all that’s happened, but he wishes they were back at the manor, tucked into the Emperor’s big bed with silky sheets and fancy pillows; the Emperor kept late again by his spymaster from joining them in resting or just around the corner in the connecting washroom getting ready to join them. But he’s happy, so incredibly happy, that he’s been given the chance to regain this one small part of his life.

                The warmth building up under the moth eaten blankets from the two of them are soothing and he, too, starts to fight to keep his eyes open. With Charlie’s deep sighs of sleep in his ear and his eyes locked on the happy drawing of Raleigh’s only family, he starts to finally feel a reluctant peace. He rubs a finger lovingly over the stick figure dressed in royal black as he fades off into slumber.

                “We miss you, Herc.”


End file.
